Bone chip in my wrist

[LVRebGirl]

Of course, something always comes up to throw a wrench in my progress. I broke my wrist back in February and had various casts and braces on for 3 months. Since I've started weight training it's been getting sore off and on but not too bad. I just assumed it was tendonitis, which the doctor said I would get from time to time. Well it's been consistently sore for over a month so I went back to my orthopaedic doctor yesterday and I'm glad I did. It turns out that there's a bone chip between my wrist and hand bone and every time I flex my wrist outwards, the bone chip is hitting against the hand bone. In the x-ray you could actually see the indentation in the hand bone that was the exact same shape as the bone chip. The doc gave me an injection and said she hoped that that would help, but if not then I'd need surgery to excise the bone chip. I didn't ask enough questions, though. Why would the injection help? Is it just a temporary solution?

I canceled my training sessions for this week and am wondering if I should put them on hold or go back to the gym next week. I go back to the doc in 3 weeks to see if surgery is necessary.

[bryanc]

That depends on what she actually injected into your wrist. =)

[russ]

My guess is that she injected cortisone or one of its analogues. That would have the effect of decresing the inflammation in your wrist, which may allow you to workout without pain. Did your surgeon give you any instructions regarding laying off of training? If not, you can probably hit the gym next week if your wrist is feeling better.
Whether or not you'll eventually need an operation to remove the bone chip is tough to say---you and your orthopedic surgeon will decide on that matter.

[Jean-Paul]

I have had three cortizone injections since this summer. One in my forearm before my big climbing trip, one in my shoulder, and one in my wrist. It seems to be doing its job though. I am not really challenging those joints with workouts in the gym though. Not yet anyway. The one in my wrist has made a HUGE difference. Like Russ said, it is mostly for the inflammation. Doesn't mean your wrist is "healed" by any stretch. Take it really easy on it.

[LVRebGirl]

Thanks guys. It was cortesone or something similar that was injected into my wrist. My wrist in some ways feels better but in some ways worse, if that makes any sense. I went back to lifting for the first time in 2 weeks today. We did shoulders but my trainer concentrated on exercises where I wouldn't have to bend or twist my wrist. I think that helped. The wrist is better in that it doesn't hurt 24 hours a day anymore... but the pain when I do bend it or twist it in the direction of where that bone chip is is pretty intense. I'll see the doc again in 10 days and see what she says, but I think my preference is going to be to just get the thing taken out. She said it would be a minor procedure and shouldn't cause any problems in the future. She thinks it's a bone fragment that broke off when my wrist was fractured, but wasn't in a bad place until more recently.

Anyway, thanks for the input.